As the last of the regular track meets comes to an end so does the Boys High School Track Season. Formally starting on February 3rd, this season has held 8 meets within the Tri-County area. Within these 8 meets, the track team has shown various levels of success. One notable accomplishment was the boys placing at the Chattooga High School Track Meet where they placed first. If you were to ask one of them, the Boys Track Team members would agree that it has been an amazing season. While satisfaction has been achieved, there is still room for improvement. Through several running and throwing events, the team has refused to see failure this season. 

When it comes to running events, the team can count on one of their newest members, freshman Jasper Parker. Running both short and long distances. Participating as part of the team, Jasper really enjoys running track. He said, “I love it! It’s just really peaceful to me.” Every person comes with their strengths and weaknesses. “I feel I do best in long distance running events, but the most challenging part is the final 100 meters,” said Parker. His shortest running event is in the 100 meter dash, with a personal best of 12.65 seconds. Regarding the meets this season, Parker said, “My favorite meet was at Gordon Central, and my least favorite at Chattooga.” In talks of 2026, he said, “Yes, I plan on running track next season.” Jasper Parker is one of several runners who have participated in this track season at Armuchee, and many are very glad to have him here.

While a lot of the track spotlight is put on runners, the throwers are just as much of a part of the team. One of these people is freshman Caleb Jones, who participates in field events. Talking about his new role, he said, “This is my first year throwing. I throw Discus 50-61 and Shotput 20-25.” Caleb has really enjoyed both throwing and being a part of the team this season. Jones said, “The most challenging part of throwing is learning the new techniques. That said, there has been much improvement.” As a contributing member of the team, Caleb plans to throw next season as well. We are very glad to have him as a part of the tribe track team.

When it comes to years contributing, few people can beat junior James Bradshaw. Bradshaw joined the track team in  8th grade, making this his 4th season. Bradshaw has a variety of running events. He said, “I run the 4×1, 4×2, 100, and sometimes 4×4 and 400.” With so many years of experience, track isn’t this fresh and exciting thing. Bradshaw said “At some points, yes I enjoy running track. At some other points, I don’t. What I do enjoy is the progression and the team.” Track is just like any other sport; It has its ups and downs. James feels he does best in the 4×1 relay. “I do best in the 4×1 mainly because I suck at accelerating from not moving, and the relays give me a chance to build up speed in the exchange. I’m also really good with the handoffs,” he said. With good performance, there are also challenges presented. Bradshaw said, “The most challenging part is running. More specifically; enduring through a workout or meet, because people are relying on you. Also probably just getting the last events, or running back-to-back events. They all suck. Mainly, it’s demotivating to always be bad at every event.” The layout of event orders can definitely wear runners out of energy and strength, depending on what they’re running. To finish off his track career, James is committed to running one last time in the 2026 track season. He said, “I want to finish my senior year off strong. Even though I want to, I probably won’t be much better than before. But, I want to see something that has been so influential to my life to completion.” James Bradshaw has been a very dedicated member of the track team for not only this season, but many others previously. He has seen this team go through a lot, and this season is no exception.

The athletes are the ones who up the team and participate in events. However, all of these athletes wouldn’t be a part of the team without a solid coach. That is where Mr. Charles Elliott comes into play. Coming from a somewhat classified military background, Elliot has taken on a teaching and a coaching role here at Armuchee High over the last half of a decade. Elliott said, “I’ve been coaching for five years, and my favorite part is seeing the kids succeed.” Coach Elliott’s greatest want for the coming seasons seems to be more members to join. He said, “We need more kids coming out for track. We need to be having our athletes put out the word to their fellow peers about how track is fun. I mean, we have a good time and we actually work hard.” Following the question of wanting any other improvements, he responded, “No, because we have a facility now, which is great. We have a nice actual track. But I do think we need more kids.” Elliott then went into the effects of not having as many athletes at the moment. He said, “You know the bows, we have a lot of events that we just don’t enter. We don’t really have hurdlers, we don’t have a triple jump, we do have one guy doing a high jump but he’s leaving so not anymore.” This does have a significant impact on how the team places point wise in meets. He said, “I’ve mentioned this before, the events we do great in the events we enter in. It’s just that we don’t do all those other events that those other schools put people in and get all of the points from it.” Elliot found it difficult to identify any trend among the athletes that needs improvement.  Overall, Elliott’s five years of coaching this team have shown to be successful. We look forward to more time with Coach Elliott!

Having seniors on the team comes with goodbyes nearing the end of the season. One of those seniors is Evan Butcher, a thrower for the team. Evan said, “I threw shot and discuss for six years. 143 for disc and 47.3 for shot.” Starting in middle school, Butcher has seen a lot of improvement over time. That applies to his final year as well. He said, “I’ve improved by 30 feet this year and by 3 feet.” Doing this for so many years, Butcher definitely seems to really like throwing. Evan said, “I enjoy it. The reason is that after a long day, I can go chill and throw and feel like a man when doing it.” Though Evan’s high school track and field career is coming to an end, his overall track and field career is not. Butcher recently had a senior signing with Reinhardt University. He said, “It feels unreal and like I don’t deserve it.” Though many members of the team will miss him, all are happy for him and his recent signing to keep his throwing going. Senior Evan Butcher will soon graduate from Armuchee High School in the class of 2025, and will start at Reinhardt University next semester.

Looking at the season in all, the team has faced a lot together. They’ve seen challenges, losses, winnings, improvements, goodbyes, and much more. From what’s been gathered, the general consensus from the team is that it has been a great season for boys track here at Armuchee. We are still awaiting to see finalists and their placing, but the future is promising for many. With this season ending, it raises a few questions. What’s next season going to look like? Will we have more athletes and events filled? What improvements will we see? Only time will tell what 2026 will hold, but until then,  we wrap up for the 2025 Armuchee Boys Track Season.